When You're a Mystery Kid
by Imaginary Lex
Summary: What happens when you put a pair of polar-opposite twins, a psychic couple, a medium, his chubby friend, a girl that returned from the dead, a blue-haired sassmaster and a nerdy mechanic in a sleepy old town with mysteries around every corner over an entire summer? You get the Mystery Kids! Oneshot series. T for possible dark stuff in future chapters.
1. The Hunt Is On

**Disclaimer: I only own the story and my OCs**

**The Hunt Is On**

Coraline face palmed for what seems like the hundredth time today.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to ease the headache that is starting to form. The blue-haired girl left for a quick bathroom break for no more than ten minutes and her friends has managed to turn their relatively-tidy makeshift headquarters into the aftermath of a hurricane.

Groaning, she forced herself to watch the utter complete mess before her.

Books and papers are scattered all over the room, some of them still flying in the middle of the chaos. Most of their mystery hunting equipments are taken off their shelves and left carelessly on the floor, even the highly hi-tech and expensive ones. Trophies and memorabilia from their hunts are scattered across the room, some of them even stuck on the _ceiling_. God knows how _that_ happened.

And that was without mentioning her friends' antics.

Norman and Neil are sitting on the floor, their hair somehow braided together. They tugged and pulled at each other's hair, their hands frantically trying to undo the knots. The sight of Mabel laughing her lungs out nearby made it quite clear who put them in their predicament. You'd think the fact that this is also her and her brother's room would make her a little worried.

And moving to the other half of the Pines twins, who is caught up in yet _another_ heated argument with Raz. The topic of the argument is the same as the others; who is the real brains in the team. They shouted out the advantages that they had over each other, all things Coraline has already heard. While arguments are usually just a bother to the ears, Coraline quickly learned that everything changes when a psychic enters the fray. Especially one that has tendency to use his powers to… _emphasize_ his point.

Strangely, even at the risk of receiving a psi-blast to the face or worse, Dipper still stubbornly refuses to give up his point.

"A careful observation can beat psi-blasting like a lunatic any day!" the twelve-year old exclaimed.

"You won't be able to observe _anything_ once I'm done psi-blasting you!" the psychic spat back, fists already glowing with psychic energy.

"I can guess your deepest fears even if _my pants are on fire_!" Coraline face palmed again at that sentence. Taunting someone that can start fires with his mind to light your pants on fire is not very smart for someone that's been dubbed a genius.

Raz's teeth clenched, and Coraline knew that something bad is sure to happen. "YOU WANNA PROVE THAT?!" he yelled at the other boy's face, sending a psychic wave at all directions. Equipments and trophies were scattered across the room, and the books and papers are sent flying once again.

Coraline ducked as she saw a book heading straight at her, letting it fly out the still open door. She stood up straight and turned towards the Dipper and Raz, glaring at them with irritation. Unsurprisingly, the two are _still_ arguing. However, Coraline forced herself from lashing out at the two, as, surprisingly, they are not the most potentially destructive people in the room.

Wybie sat in the corner, frantically trying to get his contraption under control. The boy of course, has completely ignored Coraline's 'no-experiments-in-the-briefing-room' policy and decided to work on one of his projects here, just as said project went haywire. Coraline shook her head as the contraption went crazier as a result of Raz's psychic wave, Wybie getting more frantic along with it.

Coraline moved towards Wybie, ignoring the bickering boys and Mabel and her victims. Suddenly, there was loud boom, accompanied with several loosed bolts being sent flying across the room. Coraline ducked instinctively, and the rest stopped what they're doing momentarily, and _only_ momentarily.

Coraline's eyes followed the bolts as they rooted themselves on various parts of the room. One of them actually struck Aggie's leg, but the girl is currently preoccupied with the sight before her. Coraline followed the technically-older girl's gaze, and she let out a dejected sigh. Installed on the wall in front of Aggie was four large computer monitors, all filled with error warnings. The girl shifted nervously in her seat, scratching her head in confusion. Warily, Aggie pushed a button on the keyboard, but all it did is cause a hundred more error messages to appear.

Coraline looked back and forth between Aggie and Wybie, not sure who to help first. Mabel's annoying laughter and Raz and Dipper's ongoing argument is not helping her decide. While deciding, she noticed one of her friends not being bothered _at all_ by the chaos around them.

Coraline approached the girl, who is watering her plants under the triangular window.

"And just what are you doing?" Coraline asked, hands on her hips.

"A little obvious, don't you think?" Lili replied, not bothering to turn away from her plants.

"And you're not the slightest bit bothered by this?" Coraline asked, ducking as a part of Wybie's contraption flew past her. "GET THAT THING UNDER CONTROL, LOVAT!" she snapped.

"WHAT'D YOU THINK I'VE BEEN DOING, JONESY?!" the boy snapped back, diverting his attention from his contraption to Coraline, which of course did not end well for him.

Coraline shook his head as the contraption caught on fire, Wybie's panic practically going through the roof at this point. Coraline gladly diverted her attention back to the psychic girl. "So?" she asked again.

"As long as they're not bothering me, they can do anything they want." The girl answered simply.

"And what _exactly_ happened here?" Coraline asked, her curious gaze sweeping across the mess that supposedly occurred in the five minutes that she was gone. If it wasn't for the fact that this room is their headquarters, she would actually be impressed by that feat.

Lili let out a low sigh, setting her watering can down and turning to face Coraline with a mildly annoyed look. "After you left, Wybie started his project here. Dipper unnecessarily tried to help out, Raz called him a know-it-all, and I'm sure you know what happens next. Norman and Neil were minding their own business, until sweater girl comes in, and she hadn't stopped laughing since then. Wybie tried to do some damage control, but his contraption decided to go psycho all of a sudden. Aggie tried to back away from the craziness, but she accidentally bumped into the keyboard, and now she's stuck with her own mess."

After that quick explanation, Lili abruptly turned her attention back to her plants. Coraline shook her head at psychic's apathy, deciding whether to berate her or not.

_At least she's not making a mess. _Coraline thought, turning her attention back to the chaos behind her, which is worsening with every passing second. She took a step forward, readying her loudest shout to gain everyone's attention. But before she can do that, a different loud noise captured their attention.

A siren, installed just above the door, blared as it bathed the room in flashes of red light. The chaos of the room came to an abrupt stop, replaced by the siren's blare, gaining everyone's attention. After a few seconds, the siren stopped, the room now illuminated in a warm, summer sunlight again, but Coraline never expected what happened next.

Dipper and Raz's argument stopped, the two of them rushing towards the computer. Aggie got out of her seat, quickly replaced by Dipper. With a few button presses, the error warnings and messages on all four monitors disappeared, much to Aggie's silent relief.

Mabel finally stopped her laughter and, with a few quick tugs, unraveled Norman and Neil's hair. The three quickly joined Dipper, Raz and Aggie in front of the monitors.

Wybie picked up a fire extinguisher from among the mess and drenched his device with the white substance, putting the fire out but his device is most definitely ruined in the process. Letting out a low, dejected sigh, he put the extinguisher down and joined the others in front of the monitors.

Lili put her watering can down and placed her plants back right under the triangular window. She stood up and made her way to the monitors.

Meanwhile, Coraline stood stunned in the middle of the room, mouth slightly agape from her attempted yell. She was dumbfounded; the fact that the complete chaos in front of her came to an abrupt stop didn't completely register in her mind.

_What the-? Did that just… actually happened…?_ The blue haired girl thought.

"Wow, seriously?" said Lili with an un-amused look on her face, breaking Coraline's trance. "Good to know you think _so_ highly of us." she continued, sarcasm dripping with every word. It wasn't until Lili joined the others in front of the monitors that Coraline realized that the girl just read her mind.

Blushing faintly, Coraline joined the others.

Dipper was already typing on his keyboard when she arrived. A full map of Gravity Falls is displayed on the leftmost monitor, with a blinking red dot displayed prominently on the map. With a few button presses, Dipper zooms in on the red dot, revealing it to be close to the waterfall.

"About a mile south of the waterfall." Dipper stated.

"What lives there? Hide-Behind? The piranha-pigeons?" Norman guessed.

Dipper punched in some more commands, opening up footage of several surveillance cameras on another monitor. It showed several different spots in the forest near the waterfall. Punching more commands, Dipper rewinds the time to about before the siren went off, before playing it again frame by frame. All nine of them watched the footage closely as the frames passed, looking for signs for a creature or anything supernatural.

"There!" Raz shouted, pointing at a footage on the top center of the monitor. Dipper immediately stopped the footage, enlarging the one that Raz is pointing. On screen, there is a blurry image of an all-black, horse-shaped figure.

"It's that Shadow Mare from last week!" Mabel announced. "He still owes me a ride." she added with a pout.

"Remember guys, the journal said the Shadow Mare could be a ghost," Dipper reminded, "if that turns out to be true…"

"Then we'll take point." Norman, the team's expert on ghosts, nodded, alongside Aggie, the team's other expert on ghostly things.

"Alright, let's gear up!" Raz announced, already itching for an adventure.

The group quickly dispersed from the monitor, leaving Coraline dumbfounded once again. Wybie snatched three keys off of a hanger on the wall and dashed out of the room. Raz and Lili quickly cleaned up the mess, using their psychic powers of course. Their equipments and trophies flew back to their respective places, returning the room to its original state in a matter of seconds. The deed done, the two walked out of the room, Raz picking up his signature goggles along the way.

Dipper, Mabel, Norman, Neil and Aggie moved to their personal lockers, bolted on the wall opposite of the monitors. Dipper's locker, decorated with a layer of notes about his personal research, is the rightmost one. Mabel's is right next to Dipper's, decorated with colorful stickers and various arts and crafts items, and is also the only one that has been repainted pink. Norman's is two lockers away from Mabel's, separated by Wybie's and Coraline's. Unlike Dipper's and Mabel's, Norman's locker is colored pitch black, plain and undecorated. The same can be said for the two lockers left of Norman's, belonging to Aggie and Neil respectively.

Dipper fished out his precious journal, _3_, out of the locker and tucked it safely in his vest. He pulled out another thing, a utility belt, and fastened it around his waist. From a special container in his locker, he pulled out several chemical tubes and secured them on his utility belt. From an even more special container, he pulled out a device he made with Wybie's help. It can mix the chemicals that he brought, enabling a larger variety of uses and making them deadlier than ever. He carefully secured the device on his utility belt.

Mabel opened her locker, gazing at its content with a silly grin. Hanging proudly in the locker is her 'most amazing sweater of all time ever'. A plain white sweater with the words 'Mystery Kids' stitched to it, each letter styled with the characteristics of each of her friends. It also has a layer of strong yet flexible protective padding underneath the fabric, courtesy of Wybie and Dipper. Eagerly, she slipped on her 'adventure sweater' over her current sweater, alongside a utility belt similar to Dipper's. She then took out her trusty grappling hook and secured it on her belt.

Norman opened his locker, pulling out his signature red jacket, now with protective padding similar to Mabel's, courtesy of Wybie as well. He slipped them on, and pulled a slingshot and a bag of metal pellets from his locker, placing them in his jacket. After discovering that he has a decent aim, Norman reserved this ability for situations like this, and decided that a slingshot is the weapon best suited for him.

Aggie fumbled a little with her locker's lock before she managed to open it. She pulled out and slipped on a pair of gloves made out of non-conductive material specially designed by Mabel and Wybie, its main purpose is to contain her 'leftover powers'.

Neil opened his locker with an excited smile, only for it to turn to a horrified look as dozens of brooms and other cleaning tools fell upon him. The others paused their gear-up to stare dumbfounded at the pile of cleaning tools that buried Neil.

"Ow…" the boy moaned in pain.

"Oops…" Mabel spoke, drawing silent sighs from the rest. "I completely forgot about that prank…"

Coraline face palmed. The whole time, as her friends immediately dropped their antics and got down to business, a feeling of pride starts welling up inside her. The fact that the ragtag bunch is capable of getting serious when needed is definitely something to be proud of. However, that prank is like the world trying to remind her that they are all still pre-teens.

She took her hand off her face, intending to help Neil, but she was surprised to find that they are already gone, all of the brooms and cleaning equipment crammed back in Neil's locker. Hurried footsteps from the door suggest that they stuffed them back in and immediately left.

Coraline let a small smile out. _Definitely not your everyday pre-teen._

Realizing that everyone else must already be ready downstairs, she hurried to her locker. She fished out and put on her signature yellow coat and police cap. Unlike Mabel and Norman, her coat doesn't have any added protective padding. She pulled out her satchel and, after quickly checking to see if all her equipments are in there, puts it on. Lastly, she took out her mace, securing it to a strap on her satchel.

Now, the blue-haired girl is ready. But, before she left the room, she opened Wybie's locker and took out his signature mask. She sprinted out of the room, through the house and out the Mystery Shack's back door.

Outside, the rest of her friends are waiting for her, preparing all three of their 'Mystery Rides'. The first one, the Mystery Cart, now with some modifications by Wybie, with the materials coming from Raz and Lili's Psychonaut connections. After getting it from Stan through a lengthy argument, they all worked together and turned the golf cart into their main mystery solving vehicle. While the exterior might still look like an ordinary golf cart, it now has dozens of compartments to store their equipments, and it also has dozens of new functions, most of them can be activated with just a press of a button.

Currently, Dipper, Mabel, Raz, Lili and Neil are tending to it. Dipper is checking and filling some compartments with several of his chemical tubes, Mabel is pumping the tires while Raz, Lili and Neil are seated on their usual spots. Lili and Neil sat on the back, while Raz still stubbornly chooses to place himself on the roof.

The second one of the Mystery Rides, Wybie's bike-motorcycle hybrid, currently being tended by Wybie. Surprisingly, even though it is his bike, it is the one that Wybie modifies the least. For Coraline, the bike looks the same as it was two years ago, when she first arrived at the Pink Palace.

And finally, the last of the Mystery Rides, Norman's bicycle. After weeks of persuasion from the others, Norman finally agreed to make his bicycle a part of the Mystery Rides, letting Wybie turn it into a bike-motorcycle hybrid similar to his own. Currently, Norman and Aggie are tending to it.

"You guys ready?" Coraline shouted, catching their attention.

"Just waiting on you, Jonesy." Wybie replied, getting on his bike.

Stepping towards her friends, Coraline pulled out nine earpieces from her satchel and tossed one to each of them, keeping one for herself. She placed it on her right ear, the others following suit, though Aggie fumbled with it a little.

She walked towards Wybie, handing him his mask. "I think you forgot this. Again."

Wybie slapped his forehead. "My mask! I knew I forgot something!" He looked at the blue-haired girl sheepishly. "Thanks for getting it for me. Again."

"Just don't get used to it." Coraline replied. "You set or what?"

Grinning from ear to ear, Wybie dons his mask. "More than set."

"What about the rest of you dorks?"

"Definitely!" Raz shouted from his perch on the Cart's roof.

"All set!" Dipper exclaimed, hopping onto the Cart's driver seat, while his twin occupies the seat next to him.

"Same here!" Neil exclaimed cheerfully from the back seat.

"We're ready." Norman stated, speaking for him and Aggie as they mounted Norman's bike. Aggie added a confidant nod as she got on the passenger seat.

"Told ya; we're just waiting on you." Wybie spoke.

In response, Coraline gave him a jab in the shoulder. She hopped onto Wybie's bike. Fixing her cap's position, she looked around at her friends. To think, that just a few minutes ago they are a bunch of raucous pre-teens. But now, the Mystery Kids are ready to hunt down a mysterious and potentially deadly creature.

_Oh yeah, definitely not your average, everyday kids._

"Rev up those engines guys!" At her command, the Mystery Rides roared to life. Adrenaline coursed through their veins, each of them already feeling the thrill of the hunt.

A determined grin made its way to each of their features, and that is a sure sign of one thing and one thing only.

"The hunt is _on_!"

**I told you guys I'm gonna make the MK badassly gearing up! Did I ever disappoint? **

**So my MK one-shot has begun at last! I'm super excited to see how this develops, and I hope you guys are too! Y'know, this **_**was**_** supposed to be semi-canon… right up to the point where I went crazy with the equipments. And so, anything canon in this fic are probably hints and foreshadowings of what's about to happen in the series. In fact, I planted quite a few hints in this chapter. Do you guys know which is which?**

**This chapter is basically just an introductory chapter, to get you guys familiar with the MK and their various gizmos. Keep those stuffs in mind; I have several chapters planned where they become crucial. **

**Feel free to leave ideas and suggestions if you want! I have a ton of stuff planned, but I wanna see what the MK fanbase can come up with. Plus, this can be some sort of place where you can put ideas that might not be used in the actual series. So you can leave your ideas here and stop bothering Zach at Tumblr!**

**That's all from me right now, folks! Hopefully another chapter is gonna be up soon! I should really get some sleep, it's half past ten right now…**

**A quick one before I end this chapter, what do you want the next chapter like? Actually hunting creatures or daily antics?**

**Enjoy and please review!**

**XV IMAGINARY LEX XV**


	2. Spectral Singer

**Disclaimer: I only own the story and my OCs.**

**Spectral Singer**

Dipper is quite used to Mabel's weird habits. Being his twin brother, his life would've been a living hell if he didn't get himself used to Mabel's antics. As a result, he's not surprised anymore if he walks into a room that is covered with bird feathers, or waking up to see his twin dressed up as the 'Magical Horse Fairy Princess of Unicornocopia'. In fact, both have happened several times.

But, ever since she entered her 'boy crazy' phase, her habits have somehow become weirder. Obsessive searches of celebrities, boy band posters covering every inch of her side of the room and there are also those late night internet searches. He might've been okay with the last one, if it wasn't for the fact that her internet history is always 'mysteriously' empty the morning after.

So, when he found his sister peeking to Norman's room through the keyhole, giggling all the while, he was understandably freaked out.

"MABEL!"

Mouth wide and eyes even wider, Dipper desperately wishes he's not seeing what he thinks he's seeing. Mabel pulls away from the keyhole, still in a giggling fit and with a blush faintly visible on her cheeks.

That is not helping Dipper's sanity.

"What up, bro?" Mabel asked, ever so cheerfully.

"Wh-Wh-Wha-What a-are you do-doing?" he managed to stutter out, his head still horrified by the possible scenario.

Grinning mischievously, Mabel glanced left and right and pointed at the door. "He's singing." She whispered.

Now Dipper's head is trying to wrap around a different possibility. "N-Norman?"

Mabel nodded vigorously, pointing at the wooden door. "He's actually singing!" she whisper-yelled.

The girl hopped over to the door and pressed her ear against it, giggling from time to time. Warily, Dipper approached the door, pressing his own ear against it.

_I'm breathing in the chemicals_

That was definitely singing, and that was definitely Norman's voice.

Eyes wide, Dipper pulled away from the door. He stared dumbfounded at it for a few moments. Meanwhile, his twin still has her ear pressed against the door.

Not quite convinced, Dipper peeked through the door's keyhole. What he saw definitely erased his doubts. Norman is standing on his bed, actually _singing _with a karaoke machine, speaking the lyrics as they appeared on the television screen before him.

_I'm breaking in, I'm shaping up_

"He's actually singing…" Dipper muttered to no one in particular. And the spiky-haired boy is not just singing, he's singing _well_.

"His voice is _amazing_!" Mabel stated lowly, pressing up against the wooden door so much it started to creak.

"Uh… what are you two doing?" A female voice spoke, freezing them on the spot. The twins whipped their heads at the voice's direction, finding Aggie and Neil.

"Are you two peeking into Norman's room?" Aggie asked, brow raised.

Realizing how awkward this must've looked, Dipper felt a blush starting to form. "Um… what about you two? What are you doing here?" he asked back, trying to deflect suspicion from him.

"Norman was supposed to get me started on those… uh… camp-eaters…?"

"You mean, computers?" corrected Neil.

"Yeah, that's the one. And did you just try to change the subject?" the girl put her arms on her hips.

"Shh!" Mabel stepped forward and put a finger to their lips, much to their confusion. "_He's singing_." she whispered, eyes round in a trance-like state.

Shoving Mabel's hand away from her mouth, Aggie asked, "Who?"

"_Norman_." replied Mabel.

Aggie and Neil share a quick glance of disbelief, before scrambling to the door and pressing their ears against it.

_This is it; the apocalypse_

"That's Norman?" Neil wondered.

_Whoa_

_I'm waking up_

Their eyes went wide. That sounds almost nothing like Norman, but they are positive that that was none other than the spiky-haired boy at the same time. At this point, it's clear that seeing ghosts isn't Norman's only gift.

_I feel it in my bones_

"This is bananas!" whisper-yelled Mabel.

"I think I've heard him hum this song before, but never actually out loud." Aggie said.

"All this time he can talk to ghosts, now he can sing to them too!" said Neil cheerfully, pressing against the door even more, it creaking louder as he did.

"Why would he _ever_ sing to ghosts?" Dipper asked, trying not to chuckle.

"And why are you guys… doing that?" Lili asked, head cocked to the side. To be honest, she didn't expect to find four of her friends in exactly the same position; heads tilted to the side, pressing their ears against a door.

"I told you I sensed something going on!" Raz exclaimed, crossing his arms. Judging by his grin, he feels quite proud of his discovery.

"At least this one actually seems interesting." Lili mumbled, rolling her eyes at Raz's attitude. But that doesn't mean she's not curious to what her friends are doing.

Meanwhile, said friends are rooted on the spot, preoccupied with the singing coming from beyond the door.

"Shush!" shushed Neil. "Norman's singing."

Both of the psychics' eyes went round. "Who's what now?" Lili voiced her disbelief.

"Quiet! He's getting to the good part." Mabel whispered just loud enough for Raz and Lili to hear, pressing her ears against the door even more.

The psychic couple looked at each other, confusion clearly written across their features.

"Did I hear that right? Norman's singing? _That_ Norman?" Raz said, incredulous to the idea. "We're talking about the same Norman here, right?"

"Well, it's not like we know anyone else named Norman." replied Lili.

"Do you think they're lying?" Raz wondered, eyeing the four.

"I don't think so. I don't sense anything from them." Lili answered after taking a quick check. "Besides, why would they lie about that?"

"Yeah, good point."

The two stared at the group huddled around the door for a few moments, trying to decide whether what they said is real or not. Eventually, their curiosity became too much for them. They joined the group, pressing an ear against the door. And just at the right moment.

_Welcome to the new age, to the new age_

Lili's eyes widened. "Whoa."

"You got that right." Raz muttered, eyes just as wide.

_Welcome to the new age, to the new age_

"That can't be him, right?" Raz said. However, a quick mental check proves that the one singing was _indeed_ Norman. "Whoa…"

"That's what we've been trying to tell you." Dipper whispered, rolling his eyes.

_Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive_

_Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive_

"How come he never told us about this?" Mabel asked to no one in particular, keeping her voice low.

"How come _we_ never found out about this sooner?" Dipper pointed out. "I mean, the Shack's not _that_ big."

"Maybe he's shy?" Aggie guessed.

"Shy? He shouldn't be shy around us, especially if it's about karaoke!" Mabel said.

"Oh, come on Mabel, it's like you don't know him at all!" Dipper spoke up. "He's obviously scared."

"Scared? The guy that managed to talk Aggie down is scared?" Raz raised a brow, skeptical of the idea.

"I admit, I didn't hold back on trying to get him to leave me alone back then." Aggie added.

"Not _that_ kind of scared." Dipper rolled his eyes. "He's scared that we might not like it."

"Why would we not like his singing? It's amazing!" said Neil.

"Yeah sure, but look at it from his perspective," Dipper started, "All this time he's been bullied and alienated by a lot of people because of his ability to see ghosts. Now, we haven't really known each other for a long time. And, I'm sure he thinks he's lucky that we're okay with his gift. I know we're close and all, but if I were him, I'd be a little bit scared too."

"That's… that's really sad." Mabel said with an uncharacteristic frown. "But… I guess I understand. He doesn't want the same thing to happen with us."

"But that was seeing ghosts. This is singing. They're two completely different things." Lili pointed out.

"Well, that's what trauma does to you." Dipper replied. "And how come you don't know about this? I thought you Psychonauts would know more about human psychology."

"Alright, what're you guys up to now?" a familiar voice spoke. They turned their heads, finding Coraline and Wybie behind them. Coraline is wearing an annoyed look, while Wybie is wearing a curious one.

"Listening to Norman's awesome karaoke!" Neil replied rather bluntly.

In an instant, the two share a confused look. "Norman sings?" Coraline spoke.

Raz motioned for the two to come closer as a reply. The two did as they are told, pressing an ear against the door just as Norman hits the second chorus.

_I'm waking up_

_I feel it in my bones_

"That's _Norman_?!" Coraline said in an almost-yell, practically slamming her body against the door in an attempt to hear clearer. "Are you kidding me?!"

_Enough to make my systems blow_

All eight of them are in complete silence, listening intently to the music and the singing of their friend.

_Welcome to the new age, to the new age_

As the music builds up, they subconsciously start to press their bodies against the wooden door.

_Welcome to the new age, to the new age_

The worn wooden door starts to creak under the pressure of eight pre-teens, but they are transfixed to the music.

_Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive_

The eight pre-teens leaned further against the door, remaining oblivious to the creaking. The creaking grew louder and louder and louder, until eventually, the inevitable happened.

_Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive_

A loud snap was heard even through the loud music, and the next thing they knew, they were falling forwards, screaming all the while. They grunted as they hit the ground, but because of their position earlier, some of them ended up crushed between the door and the other pre-teens.

"Ow…" Neil moaned, crushed under Mabel, Aggie and Wybie.

"Oops, sorry Neil." Mabel apologized, quickly getting to her feet. The rest followed suit, scrambling to their feet and trying to figure out what just happened.

Once they recovered, they realized that the door, old and worn as it were, can't hold their combined weight and broke off of its hinges, making them fall. Fall right into Norman's room.

The realization slowly dawned on each of them, each of them slowly turning to face a very confused medium. Said medium is holding a microphone in one hand and a remote in the other, with the music paused.

"Uh… did you… were you eavesdropping on me…?" Norman asked, his cheeks starting to show a faint red.

"Uh… uh…" Dipper looked back at his friends, hoping that one of them would speak up. Unfortunately, none of them doesn't seem to have any intention to do so. Taking a deep breath, Dipper replied, "I… I guess…"

"Oh…" Norman's blush is growing more visible by the second. "Exactly… how much… did you hear…?"

"A lot… most of them, actually…" Dipper replied. He's actually feeling quite embarrassed of his actions.

"Oh." was all that Norman said before the room was overtaken by an awkward silence for the next few minutes.

"Can we… _never_ speak of this again?" Norman finally spoke.

"No!" Mabel yelled, taking several steps forward. "This is something that we definitely _need_ to talk about!"

Norman was completely caught off-guard. "W-What?"

"You were _amazing_! Forget Dustin Deider, _you_ are the singer of the century!" Mabel beamed.

"N-Nah, I just… I'm not that good…" Norman said, scratching his neck. However, he _did_ feel a bit flattered by Mabel's compliment.

"Yes. You. Are." Mabel turned to face the rest of her friends. "C'mon, tell him guys!"

"Well," Wybie was the first to speak, "you're definitely better than me."

"Two thumbs up!" Neil exclaimed, doing said action. "I'd raise more thumbs if I had more."

"I'm sure Milla would kill to get you to sing in one of her parties." Raz smiled.

"And that basically translates as; you should consider turning this into more than a hobby." Lili added.

"I think you have a lovely voice." Aggie said.

"All this time, we always knew that you were a spectral speaker. Who would've thought you're a spectral _singer_ too?" teased Coraline.

A different kind of blush appeared on Norman's cheeks along with an embarrassed smile, an effect of the compliments from his friends.

"See? They all liked it! How come you never told us about this? Do you have any idea how many karaoke nights we could've had?" Mabel asked with a concerned smile.

Norman nervously looked at his friends, each of them waiting for an answer. "I… I guess I was scared…" Norman began. "I was scared that… you might not like it. I mean, this is a mystery hunting group, not a band…"

"No, this is not a mystery hunting group." Dipper spoke, surprising everyone. "This is a group of friends, and friends never turn their backs on each other. Besides, if you like singing, that's who you are, and who are we to change who you are? And if you're scared, you should never let fear change who you are, right?"

A smile appeared on the medium's features. "Right." he nodded.

"Right!" Mabel yelled. "Now, why don't you finish that song for us?"

"Wait, what?" Norman exclaimed, caught off-guard yet again. "I-I don't think I can… with you guys… watching…"

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Mabel said, hopping over to next to Norman. "I'll sing with you!"

"Wait, that's not what I-" Before Norman can finish his protest, Mabel is already gesturing for the others to join them.

"C'mon, who's up for some groovy tunes? Bro?" she offered, gesturing to her twin brother.

"Meh, what the heck." Dipper shrugged, joining Norman and Mabel. "That was a really good song anyway."

Mabel's grin grew larger. "Anyone else?"

"I'm in!" Raz exclaimed, using his psychic powers to cover the distance between him and Mabel in one leap.

Lili smirked. "Show off."

"What? I wanna join in on the fun!" Raz grinned.

"If that's the case, I better join too or everyone in this room might go deaf hearing you sing." Lili remarked.

Neil was next to step forward. "I'm with you, Norman."

"So do I." Aggie followed with a smile.

All that haven't joined now are just Coraline and Wybie. "S-So… what's the verdict, Jonesy?" asked the boy.

"Well, there's no reason for not joining, is there?" Coraline replied without much thought. The two proceeds to join the group.

And now, the group is complete; all nine Mystery Kids, ready to sing their hearts out.

"Now you got nothing to worry about, right?" Mabel said, beaming all the while.

Norman chuckled as a response, feeling quite touched that they all volunteered to join just to get him to finish the song. "Okay, okay, I'll finish the song." he finally said.

A round of cheers came from the rest, the loudest one naturally from Mabel.

He pointed the remote at the television, ready to press the play button. "Y'know, let me sing this first part. I'll let you know when you can come in." Norman said before pressing the button. The music picked up where it left off, and Norman raised the microphone close to his mouth.

_All systems go_

The amazing voice returned, drawing smiles from all of them, even from Norman.

_The sun hasn't died _

Norman raised three fingers, a countdown to when the others should join him.

_Deep in my bones_

The fingers decreased into two, prompting the others to get ready.

_Straight from inside_

Only one finger remains, all of them eagerly waiting for it come down as well. The music plays a bit more before Norman lowered the last finger, signaling the others to join.

_I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones_

They sang as loudly as possible, even if some of them are horribly off-key. Their singing is loud, it's starting to drown out Norman's own voice, even when it's enhanced by the microphone. He didn't mind however; what's important is that they are having fun, and he is having fun along with them.

_Enough to make my systems blow_

But that doesn't mean he wants to be left out. Norman raised his voice, unknowingly taking the lead. The others followed Norman's lead, and as a result their singing is a bit less horrible.

_Welcome to the new age, to the new age_

_Welcome to the new age, to the new age_

_Oh yeah_ Norman thought as he sang._ We have to do this once in a while_

_Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive_

_Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive_

The music ends, replaced by a round of cheers and applause from the Mystery Kids to themselves. They chatted happily, making snarky comments at each other's performance. However, they all openly complimented Norman, patting him on the back and giving him praise after praise. Once they are done, Norman has only one thing to say to them.

"You guys owe me a new door."

And so begins the Mystery Kids' weekly karaoke night. No matter how important the adventure they're having is, no matter how unsolvable the code they're breaking is, they always make time for some nice tunes and be what they really, truly are; friends that will never turn their backs on each other.

A week never passes by without the Mystery Shack filled with their singing for at least one night, with the Mystery Kids' own spectral singer always in the lead.

**Oh yeah, rock on, Norman! Rock on!**

**Another chapter is here! Hope you guys aren't waiting for too long, but this is unexpectedly longer than I thought. When I started this chapter, the concept in my head was only 'Norman sings along to Radioactive and the MK caught him in the act'. Before you know it, it snowballed into this and I suddenly hit the three thousand word mark.**

**Also, yes, I am a HUGE fan of Imagine Dragons. It's one of the reasons why I made this chapter so early. Another reason is because another writer in the MK team is also an Imagine Dragons fan (I'm looking at you, G). You guys should check some of their songs; I promise you won't regret it. **

**Another thing I wanna mention, I noticed an interesting question in of the reviews. I'm really sorry but I can't reveal the answer just yet. What's that? Why can't I reveal it? Well, I might be a semi-god of tricks and illusions, but that doesn't mean I want to invoke the wrath of the Tree of Nothingness (Zach) or the God of Chaos (Shannon).**

**Sorry, that was an inside joke.**

**A little teaser for the next chapter. It's a hunting one, a lot more serious than this one, it starts with Dipper frantically catching his breath and ends with a killer uppercut.**

**Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and as always, give me some ideas and suggestions that you guys wanna see in the story.**

**Enjoy and please review!**

**XV IMAGINARY LEX XV**


	3. Don't Mess With The Mystery Kids

**Disclaimer: I only own the story and my OCs.**

**Don't Mess With the Mystery Kids**

His legs ached, his lungs felt like it was on fire, but he knew that he can't afford to stop running, lest the bloodthirsty beast catches up to him. The sweat made it hard for him to hold on to his precious journal, so he held it with both hands and kept it close to his chest. He kept running, not caring that his shoes are soaked with mud or that his clothes are now tattered after plowing through numerous bushes.

When he finally stopped, he felt like he ran a marathon. He leaned against a tree, slowly sliding down until he rested on his bottom. He took deep, ragged breaths, allowing his lungs to cool down and letting his legs get some much deserved rest. He started to relax, letting his grip on his journal loosen bit by bit.

A thump shook the earth, and his body stiffened once more.

He stayed as still as humanly possible, not even taking a breath of air, fearing that the beast might hear his breathing. The thumps grew louder and the earth shook harder, signaling the monster's approach. As the creature approaches, the boy clenched his eyes shut and, fearing the worst, prays that he won't do any dumb, sudden movements that might give away his position. Though that happening is unlikely, he's not taking any chances.

The thumps continued menacingly, until it came to a sudden stop. He opened his eyes and let himself breath again, albeit only low and shallow ones. He perked his ears, trying to hear something that might give him an idea of where the creature is, but all he heard was the forest's deafening silence. He tried harder, only to get the same results. Calming down, the boy considered his options.

To get up and search for the creature would mean certain death, but if he just sat here it would mean death for his friends, death for his teammates, death for his sister…

_Agh, why do I always end up doing stupid things?!_

Bracing himself, he slowly rose to his feet, careful not to step on any branches. He turned around, peeking from behind the tree that he was leaning on earlier. In an instant, his eyes went round as a button.

Standing about twenty meters away from him is the creature he was searching for. The Sethaur, an incredibly dangerous subspecies of the Manotaurs that he stupidly awakened from its long slumber. It's almost twice the size of the largest Manotaur, sporting a dark red hide, curved demonic horns, bloodstained and razor-sharp claws and fangs, and a pair of pitch black and bloodthirsty eyes. Eyes that are sending the boy a murderous glare.

Dipper stood still, frozen in fear, as the Sethaur bared its fangs. It slowly approached, dragging its deadly claws on the ground.

_Oh, I am so fu-_

All of a sudden, a glowing orange energy hit the Sethaur square in the jaw. It whipped its head at the source of the energy, and so does Dipper. In the distance, Dipper spotted a certain hard-headed psychic, a hand outstretched and enveloped in an orange glow. He's a mess; there are various cuts and tears on his outfit, he's missing his left glove, half of his signature goggles is cracked, but most importantly, he looks _pissed_.

That usually means the psychic is about to do something stupid. For once, Dipper desperately wishes that he was wrong. But, when Raz launched himself at the Sethaur, Dipper cursed his luck.

With a hand fisted and glowing with psychic energy, Raz let out a battle cry as he flew straight at the monster. The Sethaur swung its massive claws, swatting Raz away as if he's a mere fly. The psychic smashed through a tree and crashed harshly on the ground.

_What is that idiot doing?! _Dipper thought frantically. _He's going to kill himself!_

_Shut up!_ came an unexpected reply.

Dipper gritted his teeth at the psychic's stubbornness. He watched as Raz slowly rose to his feet. He is clearly in pain; no one can survive that without breaking a bone or two, but the psychic stubbornly forced himself to face the Sethaur.

_Raz, if you can hear me,_ Dipper thought, glaring at the psychic, hoping that it would somehow increase the chance that Raz can hear him, _you are going to die if you keep this up! Get out of there!_

Raz's head straightened up, and Dipper took it as a signal that the psychic heard him. Raz tilted his head until he is facing the male half of the Pines twins that is standing several meters away from him, shooting Dipper a fierce glare.

_I. Don't. CARE! _With that mental statement, Raz turned back to the Sethaur, hands already glowing with psychic energy. He pointed it at the monster, shooting out an impressive psi-blast. The psi-blast sailed through the air, exploding square at the Sethaur's chest.

Raz broke out a sadistic grin, but it quickly disappeared when the Sethaur shrugged the blast off as if it was nothing. The beast approached menacingly, sending Raz a murderous glare. The psychic remained unfazed, already showering the Sethaur with more psi-blasts. The beast simply shrugged it all off, continuing his approach.

Dipper knew he had to do something or the stubborn psychic is surely going to get himself killed. But he is almost out of chemicals, and the ones he has are not enough to even distract it, let alone harm it. He can't create anything useful from the ones he has either.

_Raz… please… stop pushing it… _Dipper pleaded once again, now desperate. However, his mental plea fell on deaf ears; the goggled psychic still continued his futile attempt to harm the Sethaur.

The beast moved closer and closer, bearing what can be described as a murderous grin. Raz's angered glare turned into a worried gaze, his feet starting to shake from exhaustion. Finally, with one final psi-blast with every ounce of brain strength he has left (which is not much at this point), Raz fell to his knees, clearly spent both physically and mentally.

The Sethaur loomed dangerously over Raz, staring the psychic down with its pitch black eyes. Raz weakly looked up, returning the stare with a defiant look. The creature raised a fisted claw, intending to crush the insect before it. The psychic, resigned to his fate, closed his eyes and raised his left arm, feebly glowing with an orange energy, as a final attempt to defend himself.

_Sorry, Lil… _

"No…" Dipper spoke, his voice barely a whisper. With an unearthly roar, the Sethaur brought its fist down. Dipper was about to close his eyes and turn away, however, his eyes went round when he saw what happened next.

Raz waited for the fist to come down and end his time in this world, but the moment never came. Instead, he felt some sort of pressure on his left palm. Curious and confused, he opened his eyes and looked up. When he did, he has never felt more surprised in all his life.

The Sethaur's fist is blocked by a giant hand made out of orange, psychic energy, with streaks of psychic energy connecting it to Raz's raised left arm. Everyone is astonished by this, even the Sethaur, who is struggling to release its fist from the energy hand's grip.

Upon realizing that this was his doing, Raz shot the Sethaur a glare. Raz fisted his right arm, conjuring another energy hand floating behind him, fisted just like his. Still glaring murderously, Raz swung his right fist, and his right energy hand did the same, landing a hit right at the beast's jaw.

The beast stumbled backwards. It stared wide-eyed at the furious psychic, unable to comprehend how such a puny creature can actually harm it. Suddenly refueled with energy, Raz let out a furious cry, pummeling the Sethaur with his energy hands. He was relentless in his beat down, landing rock-breaking punches in lightning-quick speed, not giving the creature even a moment to recover. In seconds, the hulking monster is reduced to nothing more than Raz's personal punching bag.

Dipper stared slack-jawed a few meters away from the spectacle, until a realization came to him.

"No!" he exclaimed, wide-eyed in horror. "He's gonna kill them!"

Dipper took off running, desperate to reach Raz before it's too late. Meanwhile, the psychic has brought the Sethaur down to its knees. He clasped his fists together and raised it in what is sure to be a killing blow. The furious psychic brought his fists down; his energy fists doing the same, but just as the energy fists made contact, Dipper tackled Raz into the ground, causing Raz to lose his focus, the energy fists disappearing into thin air.

The Sethaur, seeing that his enemy is distracted, took the opportunity and ran away from the psychic. Raz recovered from the tackle and, noticing the beast's retreat, frantically scrambled to his feet and shot several psi-blasts; all of them missing their target.

A nasty combination of emotions washed over Raz. A mixture of guilt, shame, and disappointment. Raz's gaze shifted to the twelve-year old that's still recovering from the tackle. In an instant, all those emotions are replaced with a pure, unrestrained rage.

An orange energy struck the ground just inches from Dipper's face. He shrieked in surprise, jerking away from the impact site.

"YOU!" Raz snarled. Dipper turned his head, facing an unarguably pissed off psychic, hands glowing a dangerous orange. "I almost had him! I was _this_ close to killing it!"

Unfazed, Dipper got his feet under him. "For goodness sake, calm down, will ya?" Dipper said, tucking his journal back in his vest.

"Calm do- That thing ate _Lili_!" Raz spat, pointing at the direction the Sethaur went. "That oversized cow ate my _girlfriend_!"

"Well, newsflash, brainiac, that thing ate _all_ of our friends!" Dipper spat back. "And in case you didn't realize; you going berserk back there might help it kill them faster!"

Raz showed a look of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I watched the whole thing, okay? They all got swallowed whole." Dipper explained, the dreaded memories playing in his brain.

"And that's supposed to be good news?!"

"Yes, it is. If they're swallowed whole, that means they are still in one piece somewhere in that monster's belly and it'll still be a while before the thing's digestive system got to them." Dipper shot the psychic a glare. "Y'know, if that beat down didn't break every bone in their body first."

Raz looked down on the ground, looking reluctant. "Yeah, you should be ashamed." Dipper spat.

"No… not that…" Raz muttered lowly.

Now, it's Dipper's turn to be confused. "What? What do you mean?" he inquired, but the psychic refused to speak. Instead, he stared solemnly at the ground.

"Raz, tell me." Dipper pushed. Sighing, Raz finally relents.

"Psychonauts, when they become field agents and a partner is assigned to them, they are obligated to form an emergency link between you and your partner's minds. Like some sort of backdoor to your partner's mind." Raz explained. However, his tone turned grim. "Lili and I have that link. It's designed so that you can sense what your partner is doing, where she is, stuff like that. And most importantly, that link is designed to be always accessible to your partner no matter what, even if she is asleep or unconscious. There is only one way you can break that link." the psychic shot Dipper a distraught gaze. "_One_ way…"

Eyes round in horror, Dipper realized far too late what Raz is implying. "No…"

"I can't sense her… I can't sense her anymore…" Raz choked out, his voice shaking and his entire body trembling.

Dipper went pale, shivers running down his spine. He thought his theory was foolproof. He thought he only needed to somehow kill the Sethaur and free his friends trapped in its belly. In hindsight, his theory now sounds unlikely. Even if they did survive getting swallowed whole, he had no idea how fast the Sethaur's digestive system is, so it is quite possible that Mabel and the others are…

Dipper shook his head, desperate to rid himself of the horrifying thought.

"That's… that's not true…" Dipper said, more to convince himself than to convince Raz.

"Dipper, this technique's been around since the early days of Psychonauts." Raz said, gulping to try and contain the tears welling up in his eyes. "It's been proven."

That sentence struck Dipper like a bolt of lightning. As a scientific person, he's not one to ignore facts, no matter how desperately he wished that it's untrue. "Mabel…"

They spent the next several minutes in a suffocating silence, each trying to hold back the tears and maintain their composure. Raz let himself sit on the ground, wrapping his arms around his knees and curling up into a ball. Dipper continued to stand on his spot even though his entire body is trembling, his positive side and his negative side arguing the possibility of his friends' survival. The longer the argument become, the more painfully apparent it is that his negative side is winning.

During his mental argument, Dipper caught a glance of Raz's eyes. Eyes that usually showed a confident gaze when the siren in their headquarters blared. Eyes that usually shot Dipper a mocking leer in a daily basis. Eyes that usually went round when Dipper proved him wrong. Those eyes are no more. It's now replaced with lifeless ones, riddled with guilt, completely devoid of any trace of what it used to be.

It's a truly sickening sight.

Dipper is in no position to comfort or encourage anyone, let alone a boy that just lost his girlfriend. But, seeing those eyes just feels… wrong. He knew he had to do something, anything, to fix that lifeless gaze.

Dipper knelt down in front of the psychic. "Raz…" he started, but he immediately stopped, not sure how he should continue.

After a few moments of silence, he finally continued. "If… if there is a way to save Lili and the others, would you take it?"

Raz lazily met Dipper's gaze. "I told you, I can't sense-"

"I said, IF. IF there is a way to save them, would you take it?"

Raz gave a solid nod. "In a heartbeat."

"Good." Dipper stood up, smiling. "Now, are we going to sit around and go emo or are we going to show that oversized cow what happens when you mess with the Mystery Kids?"

"Dipper, there's no point. I _can't_ sense her." Raz replied.

Dipper bit his lip, trying to find the correct words to say. "Okay, I admit, it's possible that the others are… gone," a shiver ran down their spines as the word is spoken. Nevertheless, Dipper cleared his throat and continued. "But, it's also possible that they're still alive! We don't know anything about the Sethaur! Even the journal barely has anything about it! For all we know, its skin might have psychic-blocking properties!"

"What if its skin _doesn't_ have any special gimmick? What then?" Raz asked.

"Come on, Raz, this isn't you! Don't be this guy! Be the other guy!" Dipper exclaimed.

"What other guy?" Raz asked lowly.

"The guy that does triple backflips off the Shack's roof! The guy that shoots psi-blasts and pyro blasts all over the place! And most importantly, the guy that _leads_ us." Dipper knelt so that his eyes are level with Raz's. "You're our leader, Raz. If you give up, we all fall."

Slowly, Raz lifted his head, meeting Dipper's gaze. It is then Raz noticed something in the twelve-year old's eyes. His eyes are red, filled with held-back tears. Beneath the guilt and anger, Raz felt a feeling of astonishment starting to form. Dipper is surely crushed with the possibility of his twin sister being… gone, yet here he is, trying to comfort the person he likes the least in the team. Next, came a feeling of shame. Even with psychic powers, he still ended up being the one that needs help.

With a deep breath, Raz regained himself.

"You're right." he stated. Dipper blinked, surprised that it worked.

Raz rubbed his teary eyes away and rose to his feet. "I'm the leader. I should start acting like one." he spoke, a familiar air of confidence emanating from him. The psychic extended a hand towards Dipper. "But a leader is nothing without his crew."

The surprised look on the twelve-year old turned into a proud smile. He accepted Raz's hand. "And his crew will never abandon him, no matter what happens."

"Thanks." Raz said, letting out a little sheepish smile. "Looks like you stopped me from going to Gloomsville there."

"Nah, you looked more like a person that would end up in Rage Town." Dipper smirked, wiping away his own tears.

Raz laughed at the much needed joke. "Okay, smart guy, what's our next move?"

The smirks disappeared from their features, replaced with a serious expression. "Okay, so far, the only thing we know can hurt it are those energy hands of yours."

"But, if your theory is correct, beating him senseless is out of the question."

"So, what we need is a single, lethal hit from your energy hands that does as little damage as possible to its body." Dipper scoffed at his own idea. "Yeah, that's not a tall order."

"We've got taller orders before, right?" Raz grinned confidently.

Dipper nodded in agreement. "Still, this one's taller than most."

"You got that right. I mean, what're we supposed to do? Punch his head off?"

Something clicked in Dipper's head, his face visibly brightening. "That… might actually work."

"Wait, what? Raz stared in disbelief. "Okay, wait, that was just me rambling."

"But you got a point!" Dipper said, excitement in his eyes. "Punching his head off is exactly what we need! If his organs doesn't have any funny gimmicks, punching his head off is gonna kill him with almost no damage to his body."

"Oh, well then, punching his head off it is." Raz said, still surprised that his off-handed mention is being taken seriously by Dipper. "Now, the question is…"

"…how the heck are we supposed to do that?" Dipper finished, putting a hand under his chin.

The two stood in silence, thinking hard to figure out how to decapitate a hulking half-man half-bull in a single punch. Definitely the weirdest brainstorming session either of them has ever been in.

"That thing is basically a walking pile of muscle…" Raz spoke.

"Yeah…" agreed Dipper.

"…but somehow all that muscle doesn't stop it from being as quick as Neil when the ice cream van pulled up…"

"Uh huh…"

"…and he's not dumb either…"

"Sure…"

"…and with those extra sensitive senses, there's no way we can sneak up on him…"

"Raz, you're not helping!" Dipper finally snapped.

"Well, how am I supposed to decapitate him in one punch?" Raz pointed out, while Dipper put his hand back under his chin. "Let's face it; we're practically stuck in a pit here."

Again, the look on Dipper's face suggested he had another moment of clarity. Raz eyed him warily. "I triggered something again, didn't I?"

Dipper didn't answer. Instead, he turned away from Raz, the small smile on his face slowly turning into a grin from ear to ear.

"Okay, I can sense some gears whirring in that big head of yours. Care to let me in on it?" Raz asked from behind Dipper.

Dipper turned back to face Raz, wearing a smile of both joy and mischief. The look piqued Raz's curiosity, prompting him to take a step closer to Dipper. Meanwhile, the smile on the twelve-year old slowly shifted into a grin.

"Remember that Pit near the Shack?"

X-X-X-X-X

A crash echoed through the silent forest, followed by an unearthly roar. The Sethaur's pitch black eyes scanned the area, looking for revenge against the insects that disturbed his slumber. Not finding anything, it uprooted another tree, sending another crash echoing through the forest.

As it searched, it is smart enough to try and spot the insect that can summon the giant hands. The one that almost finished it earlier. That insect must be avoided, it thought. Instead, it searched for the weaker insect.

Suddenly, it felt a painful sting on it right leg. It roared in pain, looking down on its feet to spot some sort of liquid sizzling painfully on its leg. The beast scanned the area, spotting a figure standing several feet away.

The weaker insect.

"Over here, you oversized cow! Come and get me!" With that, Dipper turned back on his heels and took off running, with the Sethaur in hot pursuit.

Dipper deftly maneuvered his way through the trees, ducking under branches and vaulting over tree stumps, gaining quite a distance from the Sethaur. Meanwhile, the creature simply plowed through the forest, knocking down trees and sending wooden debris flying at Dipper. Dipper yelped as a tree trunk impaled the ground right in front of him, knocking him backwards. He took a glance behind him and, spotting the Sethaur charging at him with a murderous glare, got his feet under him and took off running again.

However, that small tumble is more than enough for the Sethaur to catch up. The monster grew nearer and nearer; it's practically breathing down Dipper's neck by now. The beast stretched a claw at Dipper, stopping just inches away from the twelve-year old. Dipper frantically reaches for his belt, pulling out a vial filled with a green-colored liquid. He threw it at the ground behind him. The vial breaks, emitting a foul smell. The smell is a discomfort to humans, but to the extra sensitive senses of the Sethaur, the smell is unbearable. It tumbled back, swinging its arms wildly to get rid of the smell, allowing Dipper to create a huge gap between him and the monster.

Once the smell subsided, the Sethaur focused its pitch black eyes at the figure running in the distance. Angered, it let out a deafening roar.

Dipper took a quick glance at the pissed off monster, smirking.

X-X-X-X-X

"This is crazy, even for me." Raz mumbled, staring down nervously at the gaping, dark, seemingly endless abyss.

Raz inched away from the Pit, moaning nervously and mumbling incoherent words. "Okay, calm down Raz." he said, reassuring himself. "This is for them. For all of them."

He turned back towards the Pit, positioning himself right at the edge. He eyed the tree line, anxiously waiting for the twelve-year old to emerge.

His breath is caught in his throat when an all-too familiar figure emerged from the tree line, running and panting heavily. Dipper nodded frantically, still running towards the psychic. Nodding back, Raz fisted his hands, summoning a pair of energy hands floating behind him. Taking a deep breath, Raz, with determination in his eyes, stepped into the Pit, fully disappearing into the abyss in moments.

Meanwhile, Dipper is still running. He circled the Pit, putting it between him and the tree line. He clutched his chest, panting heavily. Slowly, he regained his breath, anxiously eyeing the forest at all times.

With a thump, the Sethaur emerged from the forest, sending two tree trunks flying. They landed harmlessly several meters away from Dipper. The beast scanned the area, quickly spotting Dipper. It approached him menacingly, dragging its claws along the ground.

Instead of running away, Dipper stayed in place. To the monster's surprise, he is actually _smirking_. "Y'know; eating my friends, especially my twin sister, not a very good idea."

Though confused, the Sethaur continues his approach. Still smirking, Dipper spoke again. "I mean, what've we ever done to you? Ruin your beauty sleep?"

The Sethaur grew dangerously nearer, yet the boy doesn't show even the slightest bit of fear. "Doesn't matter though; the only thing that's gonna come out of this is a brand new head hanging over my fireplace."

Dipper shaped his hand into a gun and pointed it at the Sethaur's head, who is just a few feet away now. "In three…"

The Sethaur moved closer, until all that separates Dipper from the monster is just the Pit, exactly how Dipper wanted it. "…two…"

The Sethaur leaned forward, glaring the boy down with its completely black eyes. Dipper simply returned it with a smug grin. "…one…"

"…boom."

A figure shoots out of the Pit faster than the eye can see. The Sethaur tumbled backwards, taking wobbly steps backwards, before finally falling flat on its back. Its severed head landed a few feet away just moments after.

Calmly, Dipper circled the Pit and approached the once-dangerous creature, now just a dead corpse. "And that's why…"

From the sky, Raz landed right next to Dipper, his energy hands dissipating into thin air. "…you never mess…" Raz continued.

"…_with the Mystery Kids_." the two finished together, standing triumphant beside the fallen beast.

They stood in silence for a few minutes, reveling in their victory. Suddenly, they noticed something bulging out of the Sethaur's stomach, like something trying to get out. An object suddenly shot out of the beast's belly and landed inches away from their feet. An object they recognized all-too well.

Mabel's grappling hook.

Seconds later, the object's owner bursts out. "Yes, fresh air!" Mabel exclaimed, covered in blood and other stomach fluids. A bright smile appeared on Dipper's face, silent tears of joy streaking down his face.

Mabel jumped off of the corpse, only to be greeted by a hug from her twin brother. "Bro, you're getting stomach-y fluids all over yourself!" she said.

"I don't care." Dipper chuckled, holding his twin tighter. Smiling warmly, Mabel returned the hug.

One by one, each of the Mystery Kids emerged out of the hole that Mabel made. First, Norman came out, followed by Aggie, then Coraline, then Neil, then Wybie, until Lili came out last. The brightest smile formed on Raz's features once that happened.

Lili stepped off of the creature, where her boyfriend enveloped her in a hug.

"God, I'm glad you're okay! When you got eaten, I-I can't sense you o-or send any telepathic messages… I-I thought you were a goner… I honestly do… I can't believe I let you get eaten in the first place! I mean, I'm your boyfriend! I was supposed to never let that happen! I mean, I-I-"

Lili gently put a finger on Raz's lips. "Raz?"

"Yeah?"

"Just shut up and kiss me."

Raz chuckled, and the psychic couple kissed passionately. Raz put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer, mentally swearing to never let her go. The two eventually broke off the kiss, sharing a goofy smile with each other.

As the heartwarming scenes unfolded, Coraline curiously stared at the Sethaur's decapitated corpse. "What happened to this guy?" she asked.

"It's a long story, but what's important is Raz and I beat him. Together." Dipper answered, breaking off from Mabel to stand next to Raz.

"Wait a minute, did I hear that right?" Coraline asked, surprised. "You two actually worked together?"

"I admit, it was pretty rocky at first," Raz said, "but we managed to work it out." The others stared in awe at the duo.

"Besides," Dipper spoke, "I think we all learned a valuable lesson today."

"Really? And what's that?" Coraline asked, raising a brow.

Dipper and Raz shared a quick smirk, before they answered.

"Don't mess with the Mystery Kids."

**Oh yeah, badass Dipper and Raz! Nothing can stand a chance against these two! Also, what they basically did back there was use the Bottomless Pit as an improvised weapon. They are just that awesome.**

**Boy, am I glad I got this chapter done. This is THE longest chapter that I've ever written so far. Also, this one features one of the less-commonly used pairing in the MK fandom, Raz and Dipper. I'm surprised there are not a lot of stories that features this pairing. Aside from being a badass duo, they got this awesome dynamic that's really fun to work with. C'mon, MK fandom, more Raz and Dipper stories!**

**Raz and Dipper is just one of the many weird pairings we come up with in the MK Writers Team. Some other examples are Dipper and Aggie, Wybie and Aggie, Neil and Coraline, Norman and Lili, Mabel and Neil, and many, many more. Once the minisodes are out, these pairings' popularity is gonna skyrocket.**

**This chapter marks the appearance of what I refer to as Signatures. Now, Signatures are special and unique items that the MK can use in their adventures. In this case are Raz's energy hands. Each of the MK will be getting their own Signature as this story progresses. Trust me, they're gonna need it to face what I got in store for them. Also, energy hands won't be the only thing that Raz can make.**

**As always, leave ideas and suggestion of what you want the MK to do. I'm always curious to see what the MK fandom can come up with.**

**Enjoy and please review!**

**XV IMAGINARY LEX XV**


	4. Fun?

**Disclaimer: I only own the story and my OCs**

**Fun?**

The Mystery Kids are huddled up on the couch; a tense look present on each of their features. Coraline sat in the middle with a laptop on her lap, her eyes unblinking. Dipper and Wybie sat on either side of Coraline, eyes wide and breathing heavily. Mabel sat next to Dipper, shaking and tightly clutching her twin. Norman sat next to Wybie, his face as tense as the others. Neil and Aggie sat behind Norman, nervously peeking over Norman's shoulder to look at the laptop screen. Raz and Lili are perched on the sofa's backrest, each of them showing a rare look of fear.

The blue-haired girl is playing a game, viewed through a first-person perspective. Her character in the game is exploring the forest at night, with only a flashlight to light the way.

"O-Okay, I think this is the right spot. J-Just look around for a bit." Dipper said, his voice shaking.

"Y-you sure that's a good idea?" Wybie asked, his voice shaking just as much as Dipper.

"It's not like I know exactly where it is!"

"Guys! Just… shush!" Coraline finally spoke, trying to focus. Coraline moved her character around, trying to find the item she was looking for. She let out a small sigh of relief when she found it; a piece of paper with some scribbles and writings on it stuck on a tree. The paper vanished, meaning that her character just picked it up. At the same time, the game's nerve-wrecking music became louder, sending chills down their spines.

"Okay… that's seven. One more and we're done." Dipper stated, gulping. The game's music is really getting to him.

"Y'know, if this is real life; I'm just gonna blast my way outta there." Raz said.

"Uh, if this is real life, I'm just gonna cry silently in the corner." Neil added.

"You know what bugs me? We face crazy thingies on a daily basis, yet we're still scared by a video game." Wybie pointed out.

At this point, Coraline groaned in frustration. "Can you guys please shut u-"

The dreaded scare chord plays, as the screen begins to be filled with static. In the midst of the static, a tall figure stood just a few feet away from Coraline's character. They were totally caught off guard with that jump scare, even causing Raz and Lili to fall of their perch out of shock.

"Runrunrunrunrunrunrunruuuuuunnnnnn!" Dipper yelled at the top of his lungs.

However, as much as Coraline tried, the static eventually filled the whole screen. As a last ditch effort, Coraline slammed the laptop shut.

The next few minutes is spent in silence, as the Mystery Kids slowly recovers from the scare. Coraline breathed heavily, eyes still open wide. Wybie covers his face with his hands, shivering. Mabel hugged her twin for comfort, burying her face to his chest while thinking of rainbows and butterflies to block off the memory. Dipper lightly patted Mabel's back, more to calm himself than to comfort his sister. Raz and Lili laid on the floor behind the couch, trying to get their breathing back to normal. Norman closed his eyes and breathed in and out sharply, barely holding back a scream. Neil got so scared that he fell off the couch and landed on the ground, where he curled up into a ball and rocked back and forth to calm himself. Aggie held on to Norman tightly, her whole body trembling.

Slowly, Aggie looked up at Norman, and asked, "Are you _sure_ this is _fun_?"

**This is why I never play horror games. Ever.**

**So, in case you haven't noticed, this chapter is hilariously short. The reason for that is I wanna make a small announcement but the rules and guidelines said (yes, I still read them) that an entire chapter of just author's notes is prohibited. So, enjoy the MK pooping their pants playing Slender!**

**Now, on to the announcement. I wanna start updating this story on a weekly basis, instead of updating it the second I got another chapter done. However, to do that, I'm gonna need to write maybe four or five chapters in advance, 'cause I don't think trying to finish a chapter in a week is good for my health. Because of that, this story might be silent for about at least a month while I write some more chapters. Don't feel too bummed though; once I'm done you guys can have a weekly dose of the MK! This story will be updated every week on Saturday morning, Western Indonesian Time. **

**Also, since I already wrote this, what games do you want to see the MK play? Another horror game, like Outlast? Or something completely different, like Goat Simulator? You guys let me know!**

**Enjoy and please review!**

**XV IMAGINARY LEX XV**


	5. The Part Where I Come In

**Disclaimer: I only own the story and my OCs**

**The Part Where I Come In**

"Psycho One, this is Alpha Blue, do you copy? Over." Coraline spoke to the earpiece.

"Loud and clear, Alpha Blue. Over." A male voice replied through the earpiece.

"Do you have eyes on the target? Over." Coraline asked.

"Negative. No visual sight or mental sight. Over." the voice replied.

Coraline groaned. "Can you two actually do this? It's been over an hour."

"Hey, this thing is not easy, y'know." A different voice spoke through the earpiece, a female one this time. "We only have a one second psychic lock on this guy's brainwave. Even the best psi-trackers needs at least four seconds to get a proper lock."

"Easy there, Psycho Two." the male voice spoke. "Point is, we're working with what we have, which is not much."

Coraline sighed. "Fine. Status update in fifteen minutes. Radio silence till then. Over."

"Will do, Alpha Blue. Psycho One, out." the male voice said before going silent.

"Psycho Two, out." the female voice mimicked, before going silent as well.

Disappointed, Coraline walked back to the center of the forest clearing, where the rest of her friends have gathered. One of her friends, a dark-skinned hunchbacked boy, noticed her approaching.

"Anything?" the boy asked.

"Nah, psycho couple hasn't found anything." Coraline replied, putting her hands on her hips. She sighed. "The tension is killing me."

"Tell me about it." Another one of her friends, a boy with his signature pine tree hat, scoffed. "Breaking our surveillance cams, leaving creepy notes in our lockers, tampering with our hunting equipments; this guy, if it is a guy, is practically messing with us."

"We've never had this much problem with any supernatural creatures before." a boy, whose hair seems to defy gravity, spoke. "This guy is aware that we're here and we're looking for him, and I think he's mocking us for it."

"Wybie, you sure that trap's gonna work?" Coraline asked, looking doubtful.

"Of course, I just triple-checked it." Wybie replied, growing irritated. "There is no way I'm going to let that guy get away after what he did to my bike."

"Just making sure. Your gadgets have a tendency to blow up at the worst possible moment." Coraline teased, snickering.

Wybie showed a dead-serious look. "Trust me, this will work."

"So," Dipper spoke, "looks like another round of suspenseful waiting for us, huh?" Reluctantly, Coraline nodded.

Fortunately for them, the wait only lasted for five minutes. A voice screamed through the intercom, surprising them all. "Target is on the move! I repeat, target is heading to the trap! Get to your positions, this guy is crazy fast!"

For a second, they simply looked around frantically, momentarily forgetting what they are supposed to do. A second later, it all comes back to them, and they hurriedly moved to their positions. They dived to the bushes, Wybie carrying the trigger for the trap.

A few tense minutes passed, with the Kids almost breathlessly crouching under the bushes, anxiously waiting for their target to appear. Their eyes scanned the edges of the clearing, looking for any sign of him. A rustle in the bushes caught their attention, their breaths caught in their throats. A figure shot out of the bushes, dashing through the clearing at an unbelievable speed.

Reacting quickly, Wybie pressed the trigger, activating the trap. A set of steel bars rose from the ground right in the figure's path. Caught by surprise, the figure didn't react quick enough to avoid the bars, crashing straight at it. Another set of steel bars rose behind the figure, surprising the figure again. Two more set of steel bars rose on the figure's left and right, blocking all of his escape route. Lastly, a steel plate dropped from the treetops, effectively trapping him in a cage.

Seeing his trap worked, Wybie let out an overjoyed smile. "Yes!" he exclaimed, jumping out of his hiding spot. Grinning, Wybie began approaching the caged figure.

One by one, the Kids emerged from the bushes and approached the figure, a mixture of satisfaction, curiosity, pride and relief inside them. Raz and Lili emerged from the forest, relief washing over them once they saw the figure trapped in the cage.

"Good to know all that planning didn't go into waste." Raz said, stepping closer to the cage.

"Not to mention the coffee and sleepless nights." Lili added, following her boyfriend.

The Mystery Kids closed in on the cage, getting a good look on the figure for the very first time. Frankly, they didn't quite expect the figure's appearance. Like they expected, the figure is male, but what they didn't expect is that the figure is just a teenager, looking maybe only eighteen years old. He's wearing a hooded jacket zipped halfway up colored black and white, completely black on the right half and completely white on the left half. Underneath, he's wearing a plain white shirt. He's wearing grey jeans reaching all the way down to his ankle and black sneakers. All of his clothes look worn, with various cuts, tears, and stains adorning it. A hood covers most of his face, with only his nose and mouth visible.

However, the most unexpected thing about the teen is his reaction. He didn't show any sign of alarm or panic at all. Instead, he simply tucked his hands inside his jacket's pocket and wore an almost mocking smile. That gesture, although simple, is enough to unnerve the Kids with its calmness.

Coraline, not one to be intimated easily, took a step forward and wore a mocking smile of her own. "Impressed?" she mocked.

The teen took a glance at the blue haired girl. He chuckled lightly, "A little bit, I admit."

The Kids warily eyed him as he walked around his cage, inspecting the bars imprisoning him. "Although, I guess it was partly my fault too." He spoke, tapping the steel bars, "Raz going on a blasting frenzy is normal, but I should've figured something was up when Lili joined in."

The Mystery Kids stared at the teen in shock. Everyone, even Coraline, took a collective step back.

"H-How did you know our names?" Lili asked, holding Raz's hand.

The hooded teen turned to face the psychic couple, an unnervingly calm smile on his face. "That's private, Agent Lilianna Zanotto. You, Razputin, and all the other Psychonauts out there should learn a thing or two about that."

Gritting his teeth, Raz put himself between the teen and Lili. "Answer her," he threatened, pointing a hand glowing with psychic energy, "how did you know our names?"

The teen simply grinned, and a very annoying one at that. "Gee, you're more of a hothead than usual today, Aquato. You should cool off at the pool sometimes."

Although taken aback for a second, Raz quickly shot him an intense glare, his hand glowing brighter. "Don't make me repeat myself." He threatened.

"What? A little dip never hurts anyone." the teen raised his hands innocently, but the ever-present mocking smile on his face made it clear that the gesture is false.

Furious, Raz prepared his most powerful psi-blast. "Raz!" Coraline scolded, knocking the psychic out of his rage. Slowly, he lowered his hand, glaring at the teen the entire time.

With the situation diffused somewhat, Coraline turned her attention back to the teen. "It doesn't matter if you don't tell us now." She spoke, her tone threatening. "You'll tell us eventually. You're not going anywhere till you do."

"Correction; you _think_ I'm not going anywhere." The teen smiled.

"Oh, really?" Coraline asked, a brow raised. She knew it was just a bluff. Thanks to Raz and Lili's Psychonaut connections, the metal used for the cage is the same one used for a tank. Even a Manotaur would have trouble breaking out of that cage.

The teen chuckled. "Doll face, if you _think _catching me is going to be that easy," he raised his right hand, "_think again_."

A finger snap echoed through the silent forest. In an instant, the smug look Coraline wore turned into a dumbfounded one. She whipped her head around, trying to understand exactly what just happened.

"I guess it's a bit snug," the teen spoke from the spot she once stood, "but you should blame Wybie for that."

Coraline and the others couldn't believe what just happened. Heck, they are not even sure exactly what just happened. Somehow, they are all stuffed inside the cage, while the teen stood outside the cage, hands in his pocket and a mischievous smile on his features. The teen just turned the tables on the situation in a literal blink of an eye.

"What the-" Coraline mouthed, holding the bars in disbelief. The others have a similar reaction, whipping their heads around in panic, staring at the bars with a look of utter bewilderment. Meanwhile, the hooded teenager silently observed their confusion with an amused smile.

"Having fun in there?" he mocked, circling the cage. Meanwhile, the Kids have calmed down a little, though they are by no means less confused. They all stood on the cage's edge, warily watching the teen as he circled the cage. Even if his eyes are covered by his hood, the Kids can feel it giving them a condescending gaze.

He stopped in front of Raz, who is giving him a hateful glare. He showed a sinister smile, "Heard most of your family went for a swim."

That was it. That was Raz's line, and that annoying smug-face just crossed it. He pulled a hand back, glowing with psychic energy. Quickly, the teen snapped his fingers. Raz's fist collided with the steel bars, resulting in a loud clang. The psychic recoiled back, clutching his fist in pain.

"Wha- How…?" he said almost inaudibly, staring at his fist dumbfounded. The orange glow surrounding it is gone, and no matter how hard he tried, he can't bring it back. He, along with the others, stared at the teen in horror. The seemingly ordinary teenager just disabled his psychic powers, all with just a snap of his fingers.

The teen answered their horrified looks with a chilling grin.

Dipper, who is standing right next to Raz, stared back and forth between the psychic and the teen. "What did you do to him?" he asked, concerned.

The teen turned his attention towards Dipper. He took a step closer towards the twelve year old, that chilling expression still present. Although unnerved, Dipper stood his ground. "I said, what did you do to him?" he asked again.

After a silence that seems to last for hours, the teen removed the chilling look, going back to a calm smile, much to Dipper's relief. However, that relief is not going to last long. "A curious one aren't you, pine tree?"

Dipper's eyes widened. "What did you just call me?"

The teen didn't answer. Instead, he took a step back, chuckling all the while. "You should keep that curiosity of yours on a leash, Dipper." He took a glance over Dipper's shoulder, "I spy with my little eye, a bright star in the sky, and if there's untamed curiosity in your eye, the star in the sky might just _die_."

Dipper followed the teenager's gaze and, to his horror, spotted his twin sister. Mabel looked at his brother, looking as horrified as he is. Dipper turned back to the teen, anger and determination in his eyes. "Over my dead body." he snarled, putting himself between Mabel and the teen.

The teen laughed heartily. "Now, that is just adorable, don't you guys _think_?"

None of them reacted. The Mystery Kids still has a wary eye on him, while Dipper maintained his glare. "Well, you guys are no fun." the teen grumbled, his face showing a childish pout.

"Anyways, a bit of advice to you, kid." the teen spoke, continuing his circle, "Don't make deals with devils."

Dipper stared at the teen as he continued circling the cage, unnerved by his 'advice'. More unnervingly, as he went through a list of devilish creatures in his head, one in particular stood out as someone that would try and make a deal. Dipper is not fond of that probability _at all_.

The teen continued circling the cage, the Kids feeling the gaze of his covered eyes. As he passed Mabel, he flashed her a grin, "Don't flicker out just yet."

Mabel backed away from the teen, holding on to her twin brother for comfort. A low chuckle escaped the teen at the sight.

Minutes passed in an intense silence after that, the only sound coming from the teen's footsteps. Several minutes later, he came to an abrupt stop. The chilling grin returned to his features, somehow more unnerving than the last one.

Norman gulped, feeling that the grin is meant for him. Aggie and Neil hid behind him, peeking over Norman's shoulders with a wary gaze.

"So, ghost boy," the teen started, stepping closer to the cage, "I'm honestly curious, what's it like to see dead people?"

A shiver went down the medium's spine. The hooded teen somehow knew _that_ too. "Y-You… _knew_?!"

"Aw, c'mon Norman. At this point, you shouldn't be surprised anymore." The teen grinned. Norman warily backs away from the teen as he grows closer.

"Now, while your buddies might know that you can see ghosts," he spoke, sticking his head through the metal bars. What he said next is a whisper, just loud enough for Norman to hear, "You and _I both know what you are really capable of."_

Norman paled, a look of pure horror on his face. He tried to get as far away as possible from the grinning teen, only to be stopped by the metal bars of the cage. Not able to back away any further, Norman trembled at the teen's disturbing grin. He let himself fall to the ground, his feet growing too weak to support himself. He put his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around it, shaking and shivering with a terrified look on his face.

The Kids are equally disturbed by this. To see Norman, of all people, to suddenly have a mental breakdown with just a few words puts the hooded teen in a new, _terrifying_ light. Nevertheless, Aggie and Neil came to Norman's side, trying to comfort their friend.

"A-Are you okay, Norman?" Aggie asked. The boy didn't respond, the terrified look still on his face.

"What did you say to him?" Neil asked, turning to face the teen. To his surprise, the grin on the teen's features turned into a disgusted scowl.

"Blegh, the load." he spat, "I'm not gonna waste my time talking to _you_."

Neil rose to his feet, clearly insulted by the statement, "I'm not-"

"Shut it, flesh pile." the teen interrupted, pointing a threatening finger at Neil. After seeing what he can do so far, Neil kept his mouth clenched shut.

The teen shifted his focus to the girl kneeling next to Norman. "Now that is someone that I can talk to." he said, catching the girl's attention.

Aggie whipped her head at the teen, a fierce glare on her face. "Stay away." she threatened.

"The oh-so-innocent li'l Agatha Prenderghast." the teen said, replying Aggie's glare with a calm smile. However, the smile slowly shifted into a somewhat disappointed look. "You are so selfish, aren't you?"

"S-Selfish?" Aggie spoke, confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't you know? She misses you." he answered, smiling somewhat solemnly.

"She misses me? Who misses-" Aggie stopped, her eyes widening in realization. She left Norman's side, scrambling frantically towards the teen. "_Mom_?!" she shrieked, "You know my _mom_?!"

The teen didn't answer. Instead, he backed away from the cage, his smile turning into a mischievous one. "Please, how is she? Is she okay? How did you know her?" Aggie asked, her eyes pleading for an answer.

"Why don't you ask her yourself? All you need is a piece of rope and a tall tree." the teen replied, grinning. Aggie took a step back in horror, her hands subconsciously reaching for her neck.

Seeing her reaction, the teen broke down _laughing_. "Man, you guys are WAY to fun!" he exclaimed cheerfully, earning disturbed looks from the Kids. "I can do this, literally, all day long!"

"Well, we're not planning to be the plaything of a psycho hoodie for the rest of the day." Coraline said, her teeth gritted.

"Me, a _psycho_?" the teen gasped, dramatically putting a hand to his chest in an obvious mock-shock. "I'm _hurt_, Jonesy."

"Trust me, there's some actual hurt reserved just for you when we get out of here." the blue-haired girl threatened.

"Out of a cage made from tank steel?" the teen chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think so."

"Look, just what do you want with us?" Wybie asked, growing frustrated.

"Oh, I don't want anything." the teen said, "You Kids got a pretty interesting story going on so far. This is just the part where I come in."

"Matter of fact," the teen continued, "I might have some very useful heads-up for you, Kids."

"About what?" Coraline said, understandably skeptical of the idea.

"About how your story is gonna go down, duh." he spoke nonchalantly.

"What do you know about that?" Dipper asked, a skeptical look on his face.

"Oh, a _lot_." the teen flashed a wicked smile, "Trust me, things are getting crazy-trippy in this story of yours."

"Why should we trust you? You're just a guy that locked us up in this cage… somehow." Dipper pointed out.

"Good point there, Dipper." the teen chuckled lowly. "And honestly, I got nothing."

"There is absolutely no reason why you should trust me, and there is nothing I can do to make you believe in what I say." the teen's smile grew a tad bigger, "But just because you don't believe in it, doesn't mean it's not true."

"And why should we trust that too?" Dipper spat, giving him a skeptical glare.

In response, the teen chuckled, "You're clever all the way, kiddo."

"Welp, I'm afraid that's all the screen time I get for this chapter." the teen stated, staring at an imaginary watch on his wrist. He turned away from the Kids, walking away into the woods, saying, "Looking forward to see you Kids again in the future."

The Kids watched as the hooded teenager walked away from them, a silent relief building up inside them as the teen grew farther.

Almost all of them.

"Wait!" a voice called out, stopping the teenager. The Kids whipped their heads at the source of the voice. The twelve year old boy stood in the center of the cage, wearing a dead-curious look on his face.

"Who are you?" Dipper asked, narrowing his eyes at the teen.

The teen smiled, though it's not visible to the Kids. "Name's Vale." he answered, not bothering to look back. "You Kids better get used to this guy. You'll be seeing a lot more of this psycho hoodie."

The teenager, now known as Vale, continued his walk. He disappeared into the forest, his departure as abrupt as his arrival. Moments passed in silence, each of the Kids fixed on the spot where Vale left their line of sight. A sudden finger snap echoed through the silent forest, startling them. What's even more startling is that the cage surrounding them disappeared in a blink of an eye. The Kids whipped their heads around; grateful that they are freed, but confused on how Vale made the cage simply vanish into thin air.

Once the confusion died down, the Kids checked up on each other after the encounter.

Much to his and Lili's relief, Raz managed to return the orange glow back to his hands. "Oh, thank god…" he said, chuckling in relief.

Wybie checked the ground where the cage is deployed, finding that the equipment used to deploy the bars somehow looks like it has never been activated. "How the heck…" he spoke, baffled.

Aggie returned to Norman, who is still curled up on the ground. "Norman, are you-"

"I'm fine." the spiky-haired boy replied, far too quickly for it to be true. He shot a glance at the spot where Vale disappeared, his expression being a mix of terror and curiosity. "I'm fine…"

"Vale…" Coraline muttered, the only one to keep her gaze fixed all this time on the spot where he left. "Who _is_ that guy?"

"Forget that," Dipper spoke, positioning himself next to Coraline, eyes focused on the same spot as hers, "_what_ is that guy?"

X-X-X-X-X

"You think _you_ can take him away from _me_?"

"I _will_ take him away from you."

"You idiot, he's _meant_ to belong to me."

"You _don't_ know that."

"Yes, I _do_, and you know it too. His fate, their fate, is already set in stone."

"Then I'll just carve out a _new_ one for them. For all of them."

"I'd _love_ to see you try."

"In that case, it will be the most _horrifying_ thing you'll ever see."

**Guess who's back, suckas! And with my return, I give you my Original Character: the Hooded Mystery, Vale!**

**I had THE most fun making this chapter! I proofread it for HOURS to get every single bit of it right, and in my opinion, it really paid off! Let me know if you guys think it paid off too!**

**And moving on to Vale. I had so much fun designing that psycho hoodie, and call me selfish, but I LOVE that guy to bits. He is probably the most complicated character I have ever made, and I can guarantee that he has the most unusual set of powers. I assure you, you guys have NEVER seen powers that he has. Can you guys guess what his powers are? **_**Here's a hint**_**.**

**In case I haven't said it enough, I worked really hard to get this chapter, Vale's introductory chapter, VERY memorable. I hope you guys like him, cuz like he said; you'll be seeing a lot more of that psycho hoodie. **

**Also, as promised, this chapter will be updated weekly from now on, every Saturday morning. I hope you guys are psyched, cuz this is the point where things get real. A little teaser for next week, I'm going to use a pairing that even the folks at the MK Writers Team haven't dabbled with!**

**As always, leave ideas and suggestions of what you want the MK to do. And with that, I'll see you guys next week!**

**Enjoy and please review!**

**XV IMAGINARY LEX XV**


	6. LIttle Ghost

**Disclaimer: I only own the story and my OCs**

**Little Ghost**

"Finally, some peace and quiet." Lili said, leaning back against a tree trunk. She let out a content sigh, glad that she was able to escape the madhouse that is the Mystery Shack and away from her boastful boyfriend.

She just returned from another successful hunt where Raz's newly-discovered energy hands helped out big time once again. And once again, when they got back, that goggled Psychonaut _just won't stop bragging about it_. Eventually, his bragging got on everyone's nerves and Coraline personally told him to stop talking or, in her own words, she'll 'do unspeakable, horrifying and immoral actions to you'. That managed to shut him up.

Until he started to pester everyone telepathically. Under different circumstances, Lili would have praised Raz for finding that loophole. But, after fending off giant versions of a variety of insects, she was having none of that and stormed out of the Shack. She kept on walking and walking until she is well in deep in the forest. Only then that the psychic girl allowed herself to relax.

She took slow, deep breaths, fully enjoying the silent melody of the forest. She would've closed her eyes and took a nap right then and there, if not for the stunning scenery before her. The sun is starting to set, bathing the Gravity Falls forest in a magnificent orange. Woodland creatures ran around in-between the trees and birds flew overhead, all seeking to reach the comfort of their nests before the dark sets in.

Smiling at the breathtaking sight, she leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes, listening to the forest's symphony. The pitter patter of the forest critters sounding almost like a light drum beat. The whoosh of breeze sound like a gentle strumming of the violin. The branches creaking in between complete the natural orchestra.

_Wait a minute,_ Lili thought, perking her ears, _that is an actual violin playing._

She opened her eyes and looked around, finding no one around. But, at the same time, she is certain that her mind isn't playing tricks on her. Lili's eyes widened. There it is again, the strumming of a violin, ever so faint coming from the distance.

Curious, Lili followed the music to its source, almost entranced by the melody. The music gradually becomes louder and clearer, meaning that she is going the right direction. She also noticed that she has never heard of the music that is playing. It doesn't sound anything like Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, or any other famous composers, but it sounds just as good as the pieces they composed.

Wandering through the forest, she eventually reached a cliff overlooking an abandoned train track. There, a figure sat on a stone, holding a violin and playing the beautiful piece. Lili got closer to the figure, a hand glowing with psychic energy just in case. Once she got close enough, the psychic recognized the figure instantly.

"Aggie?"

At the mention of her name, the girl turned to face the psychic.

"Lili?"

The two simply stared at each other for a few moments, surprised to see each other this deep in the woods.

"What are you doing here?" Lili broke the silence.

"I can say the same for you." Aggie replied.

Neither of them spoke after that. Certain that both of them won't be talking anytime soon, Lili turned her gaze away from Aggie and walked towards the edge of the cliff. She sat down and focused her gaze on the golden sunset, her feet dangling freely off the cliff. Meanwhile, Aggie, who awkwardly kept her gaze on Lili all this time, set her violin down and stared at the sunset as well.

The two silently watched as the sun slowly began to hide over the horizon, bathing them in the last warm lights of the day. The two did their best to not look at each other, ignoring the feeling that you get when someone is beside you. However, their attempt to disregard each other simply resulted in a suffocating, uncomfortable, and awkward silence.

Eventually, one of them decided to break the ice.

"I never knew you could play the violin." Lili spoke, however her gaze remained on the sunset.

While slightly caught off-guard, Aggie quickly smiled. "Well, I suppose I never played it in front of any of you." She said.

"Where'd you learn to play?" Lili asked, casting a quick glance.

"From my mom." Aggie replied. "She used to play on this really big one. It was way too big for me, so she taught me how to play the small one."

Aggie smiled fondly. "She would play for me everytime I ask her. When I had really bad nightmares, she would bring that huge violin to my room and played it for me until I go back to sleep."

Lili can't help but feel envious of the Puritan girl, to have a mother that loves her with every fiber of her being.

"I'm curious, what was the piece you just played? I never heard of it before." Lili quickly asked another question, not wanting for the silence to return.

"It was my favorite song. I asked my mom to play it for me all the time." Aggie replied, smiling into the sunset. "She played that song so many times, she once asked me how I'm not getting tired of it."

"Your favorite never gets old." Lili said, her lips curled into a small smile. "Plus, it's really beautiful. Your mom must've been really talented."

"Yeah…" Aggie murmured, her mind going back to days she spent with her mom. She remembered every single detail of those days. The peaceful summer afternoons, the warm gentle breezes, the wondrous stories her mom would tell while she sat on her lap. Sometimes, they would just stay under that tree for a whole day, not going back to the village until the sun is almost setting. It was like their perfect little paradise. Until those horrible men came and-

Aggie quickly snapped out of her trance, shaking off the painful memory. She looked down and, to her horror, found that her hands are already glowing yellow. She frantically reached for the pocket of her dress, quickly pulling and putting on a pair of leather gloves. With her hands covered, Aggie began to calm down, her breathing slowing down to a normal pace.

However, she realized that someone was watching her this whole time. Lili watched her whole ordeal, from her nostalgic smile, to her split-second of rage, to her moment of sudden panic. The Puritan girl looked down on her feet, embarrassed.

"You're still having control issues?" Lili slowly spoke, carefully choosing her words.

"…yeah." Aggie replied, avoiding Lili's gaze.

"Uh… relax, you'll… get the hang of it someday." Lili said, awkwardly trying to encourage the girl.

"That day seems like a far off one." Aggie frowned, gazing down to her feet.

"Aggie, you were an angry, unpredictable, bolt-spamming specter for about three centuries. These things take time." Lili said in a nonchalant tone.

A second later, the psychic girl realized the severity of her words. "Oh god, I can't believe I just-" she gave Aggie a guilty look, "I-I didn't mean to- I'm really sorry. It just… slipped out of my mouth."

"It's okay, Lili." Aggie said, to Lili's relief. However, a mischievous glint appeared on the Puritan's eyes. "Looks like I'm not the only one with control issues."

"Well, would you look at that; turns out li'l miss innocent can crack a joke after all." Lili responded, an amused smile on her features. Aggie let out a small chuckle, both girls feeling the mood brightening again.

A few moments later, Lili came upon a sudden realization.

"Y-You're right…" Lili said, drawing a confused look from Aggie. "I do have control issues! I mean, I used to…" Lili promptly explained.

She turned to face Aggie and, slightly nervous, said, "You know, I can give you some pointers, if you like."

Aggie smiled brightly at the offer. "That would be amazing, Lili! Thanks!"

"Okay then." Lili said, getting up and seating herself next to Aggie. "I don't know if psychic powers are the same as ghost lightning powers, but I'll tell you everything I know."

Aggie nodded, prompting Lili to continue. "First off, if you think 'control' means 'constantly suppressing your powers and never, under any circumstances, ever use it', then you're dead wrong."

"Y-You're saying I should… use it?" Aggie choked out, unnerved by the idea.

"Well, yeah. Controlling your powers means knowing when and where it should be used. That means not using your powers at all is bad too." Lili explained.

"I… I'm not sure about that…" Aggie said lowly, casting her gaze downwards.

Lili looked at her thoughtfully as a plan began to form in her head. It's risky, but the payoff is worth it. "Give me your hand." Lili asked.

Aggie halfheartedly gave her a leather-clad hand. Lili quickly took off Aggie's leather glove, not giving her time to react, revealing her pale white hand still crackling with electricity.

"Wha- What are you-?!" Aggie's eyes widened in shock.

"It's okay, calm down." Lili gave her a reassuring smile. "Now, when do you think it's a bad time to use your powers?"

"Uh… when I'm taking some water from the well?"

Lili nodded. Not what she was expecting, but she's got a point. "Yeah, I guess that would be bad. What else?"

"Um… when I'm around you guys, I guess…"

Lili smiled. Now this is the direction she wanted. "Okay, and why is that a bad time?"

"Because I might just hurt you guys. I don't ever want to hurt my friends."

A warm feeling envelops Lili's chest at Aggie's words, but she has to continue on. "That's a really sweet reason. Do I count as your friend?"

Aggie raised her head to meet Lili's gaze. "Of course you are."

"Then you won't hurt me if I hold your hand, right?" A surprised expression came across her face at the question. Before she knew it, Lili's hand is already hovering above hers, dangerously close to the crackling lightning.

"What are you doing?!" Aggie shrieked.

"I'm just testing to see if you _really_ don't want to hurt your friends." Lili nonchalantly replied.

"Is this really the best way to do that?!" Aggie asked back, trying to pull her hand away, but it is held still by Lili's other hand.

"Come on, you can do this, Aggie. Trust me, just focus on what you want. Or, maybe in this case, what you don't want."

Aggie looked hesitant for a moment, but eventually, she nodded slowly.

"Good." Lili smiled. "Whenever you're ready."

Aggie took a deep breath and closed her eyes, clearing her thoughts, focusing it only on her open palm and on her desire to leave her friends unharmed.

_I am not an angry ghost anymore, my friends calmed me down. I am not a lonely girl anymore; my friends will always be there for me. They changed me, they helped me. I will never hurt them, and nothing can make me._

"I'm ready." she spoke, keeping her eyes shut.

"Okay." Lili nodded in reply. Unseen by Aggie, a look of uncertainty flashed across Lili's face. If what Norman described was true, then she really doesn't want a taste of Aggie's bolts. However, she chose to believe in her friend's capabilities, and that look quickly disappears.

"In three…" Lili slowly lowered her hand, the electricity already tingling her palm.

_They changed me_

"Two…" Both girls held their breath as Lili's hand grew closer.

_They helped me_

"One…" Aggie clenched her eyes as tightly as possible, focusing on her hand with all her might.

_I will NEVER hurt them, and NOTHING can make me!_

She gasps out in shock, eyes wide as she breathed again. She is in disbelief as she felt something warm enveloping her hand. She slowly looked up, and she met the most unbelievable sight.

Lili's hand tenderly wrapped around her own, the crackling bolts ceased from her palm, and not even the slightest cut on the purple-haired girl's hand.

Aggie stared dumbfounded at the intertwined fingers for a few moments, before finally breaking down in a chuckle of relief.

"See? I knew you could do it." Lili smiled, glad that Aggie managed to control her powers, and also glad that her hand didn't get fried. "Now, the next step."

Aggie's chuckle came to an abrupt stop, the worried gaze returning to her features. "I-I have to… _use_ it?"

"Of course. Controlling it means you have to use it too." Lili said.

"But, all this power can do is hurt people. What if I hurt you? Or the others?" Aggie returned her gaze to the ground. "This power is _evil_."

"Aggie, there's no such thing as an evil power." Lili rested her hand on Aggie's shoulder. "It all comes down to the person who has it. And last I checked, you're a pretty okay person."

"But how am I supposed to use _these_ for good?" Aggie gazed upon her pale hands.

"Well, take fire for example." Lili conjured a fireball on her palm. "Sure, it can bring down a whole town overnight, and can cause one of the most agonizing and painful death known to man," the fireball began to intensify and grow in size, causing Aggie to flinch and inch away.

"But," she flicked her hand and the flame spread upwards, creating a beautiful tree-like shape, with flames shaped like branches and leaves. Aggie stared at the awing sight before her. The fire tree dissipated moments after, leaving Aggie at a loss of words. Her gaze shifted to Lili, who replied with a smile, "under my control, fire can be an amazing thing."

"That was really amazing, but our powers aren't the same." Aggie said.

"That may be true, but there is one thing we both have." Lili said, looking at Aggie straight in the eye. "A choice. We can choose whether to use our powers to hurt people, or to protect people."

Aggie pondered upon those words. "To protect?"

"Yeah, with all the increasingly creepy creepiness we face daily, we need all the protection we can get." Lili smiled dryly.

The Puritan girl chuckled, her face brightening. "I guess you're right. It doesn't matter what my powers are, as long as I do it for good."

She took a deep breath, "Okay, I'm gonna try."

"Whenever you're ready." Lili scooted away from Aggie, giving her some space.

Aggie wasted no time in starting her attempt. She stared at her hand, focusing her mind on her pale white fingers. A yellow glow emanated from her palm, and before long, the tiniest of sparks began to form. The tiny sparks slowly intensifies, until eventually both of her hands are covered by crackling lightning. The electricity continued to grow, with stray bolts starting to shoot out of the girl's fingers. A panicked look flashed across her face as the electricity began to grow out of control, but it is quickly replaced by a look of determination. She closed her palm, and in an instant, the electricity ceased, her hand returning to its regular pale white color.

At that moment, Lili caught sight of the broadest smile imaginable on the girl's face.

"I… I did it…" she spoke, almost breathlessly. "I did it!"

Aggie laughed cheerfully, continuing to test her newfound control. At first, she simply turned her powers on and off, but eventually, she began to experiment with her abilities. Conjuring electricity on her palm, she began to swing her hand around, creating a crackling electric stream behind it. Then, she began to shoot lightning bolts into the sky, sometimes charging it first sometimes shooting it right away. All this she did with the broad smile never leaving her face.

Lili is wearing a smile of her own, watching Aggie's antics. The Puritan's giddiness reminded her of her first time using pyrokinesis. The first time is always the most exciting. Though, there is a noticeable lack of forest fire on Aggie's, which is a good thing.

Seeing that her job is done, Lili slid down the rock that she's sitting on, opting to sit on the ground and lean on the rock.

"By the way, that piece you played earlier, there's more to it, right?" Lili asked.

With one last lightning bolt to the sunset, Aggie replied, "There is, actually. You want to hear the rest?"

"Yes, please." Lili answered, smiling eagerly.

Smiling just as eagerly, Aggie picked up her violin and continued playing. Lili bobbed her head back and forth to the melody, her feet tapping rhythmically to the grass. The music fills the air as the sun began its final descent into the horizon. The sun finally disappears from view as Aggie hits the final note, leaving the forest in a blanket of darkness. Not a moment after, millions of stars made themselves visible on the night sky, bathing the forest in their gentle light.

Lili and Aggie smiled at the sky, in awe of the dots twinkling above.

"Oh, does that piece have a name?" Lili asked, still staring at the stars.

"Yeah," Aggie replied, keeping her gaze fixed on the sky, "it's called 'Little Ghost'."

**Say it with me, folks: D'awwwww!**

**I told you guys I'm gonna use a never-before-seen pairing! Betcha never saw something between Lili and Aggie, am I right? But this is one of the stuff that I love about the MK; no matter how unlikely the pairing is, they somehow can find something relatable with each other, and it doesn't seem forced at all! **

**When I started this chapter, it looks almost nothing like this. The subject that Aggie and Lili relate to is different (it was supposed to be about their fondness of plants), there was supposed to be a cute little scene with Lili and a little fox cub, and there was a completely different ending.**

**Anyways, the original ending was way too funny to get rid of, so I decided to make it into some sort of extended ending. Just take it like those scenes in Gravity Falls that plays with the credits. Basically, Jeff and the gnomes show up because they heard Aggie playing, and naturally they ask the two to marry them. Obviously, Aggie and Lili refused, so Jeff starts threatening them. Then this happened:**

Sharing a mischievous grin, electricity crackled on Aggie's palm while a flame bursts to life on Lili's.

That night, a beautiful symphony of blazing fire and crackling lightning danced around in the starry night sky, accompanied by the occasional horrified scream of a tiny forest man.

**Barbequed gnomes á la Aggie and Lili! Who wants some?**

**Also, yes Aggie is playing an instrumental version of Little Ghost. Wait, first Norman sings and now Aggie can play the violin? Is this some sort of lead up to a chapter where the MK actually plays a song? Can Mabel somehow eventually manage to convince the MK to perform ON STAGE? I suppose you guys can only wait and see…**

**A little teaser for next week: To balance out the adorableness of this chapter, next week is going to be pure, hardcore action, because it's AU TIME! And I bet it's an AU you guys have never seen before! (unless you follow moringmark on Tumblr, but whatevs)**

**As always, give me ideas and suggestions of what you want the MK to do, and I'll see you guys next week!**

**Enjoy and please review!**

**XV IMAGINARY LEX XV**


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